ROCHESTER, Minn., Sept.
8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Mayo Clinic and IBM (NYSE: IBM)
today announced plans to pilot Watson, the IBM cognitive computer,
to match patients more quickly with appropriate clinical trials. A
proof-of-concept phase is currently underway, with the intent to
introduce it into clinical use in early 2015.
"In an area like cancer —where time is of the essence — the
speed and accuracy that Watson
offers will allow us to develop an individualized treatment plan
more efficiently so we can deliver exactly the care that the
patient needs," says Steven Alberts, M.D., chair of medical
oncology at Mayo Clinic.
Researchers hope the increased speed also will speed new
discoveries.
Clinical trials provide patients with access to new and emerging
treatments, yet enrolling participants in trials is one of the more
difficult parts of clinical research. Currently it is done
manually, with clinical coordinators sorting through patient
records and conditions, trying to match them with the requirements
of a given study protocol. At any given time, Mayo Clinic is
conducting over 8,000 human studies in addition to the 170,000 that
are ongoing worldwide. Watson's
cognitive computing ability will help sift through available Mayo
clinical trials and ensure that more patients are accurately and
consistently matched with promising clinical trial options.
"With shorter times from initiation to completion of trials, our
research teams will have the capacity for deeper, more complete
investigations," says Nicholas LaRusso, M.D., a Mayo Clinic
gastroenterologist and the project lead for the Mayo-IBM Watson
collaboration. "Coupled with increased accuracy, we will be able to
develop, refine and improve new and better techniques in medicine
at a higher level."
This version of Watson will be
especially designed for Mayo Clinic. As it progresses in its tasks
and matures through this collaboration, it will learn more about
the clinical trials matching process, become even more efficient
and likely more generalizable. Watson also may help locate patients for
hard-to-fill trials, such as those involving rare diseases.
Many clinical trials at Mayo Clinic and elsewhere are not
completed due to lack of sufficient enrollment. Enrollment in
general could be increased by the Watson project. In spite of well-organized
efforts, even at Mayo Clinic, just five percent of patients take
part in studies. Nationally, the rate is even lower, at three
percent. Mayo hopes to raise clinical trial involvement to include
up to 10 percent of its patients. Researchers say the higher
participation also should improve the quality of research
outcomes.
"Using Watson's cognitive computing capabilities, Mayo Clinic
can consistently offer more cutting-edge medical options to
patients and conclude trials faster," said Mike Rhodin, senior vice president, IBM Watson
Group. "Ultimately, this effort will also help advance
scientific discoveries into promising new forms of care that
clinicians can use to treat all patients."
To ensure Watson has the
required expertise to assist with clinical trial matching, Mayo
experts are working with IBM to expand Watson's corpus of knowledge to include all
clinical trials at Mayo Clinic and in public databases, such as
ClinicalTrials.gov. The new Watson
system is being trained to analyze patient records and clinical
trial criteria in order to determine appropriate matches for
patients.
Mayo and IBM are discussing other applications for Watson in the future.
For more insights on this story please read this post on IBM's A
Smarter Planet blog: http://ibm.co/1qzP8XU
About Mayo Clinic
Recognizing 150 years of serving
humanity in 2014, Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in
medical care, research and education for people from all walks of
life. For more information, visit 150years.mayoclinic.org,
mayoclinic.org and newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org.
About IBM
Learn more about IBM Watson at
ibm.com/watson
Learn more about IBM Smarter Healthcare at
ibm.com/smarterhealthcare
MEDIA CONTACT:
Christine
Douglass, IBM Media Relations, 415-535-4479,
cgdouglass@us.ibm.com
John Connolly, IBM Media Relations,
781-636-8512, jconnol@us.ibm.com
Robert Nellis, Mayo Clinic Public
Affairs, 507-284-5005, newsbureau@mayo.edu
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SOURCE IBM